Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Origins Of The Service State: On The Ironies Of Intervention, Timothy W. Luke

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This essay discusses the growth of the interventionist "service state" in the United States since the 1890s. It indicates how the exhaustion of the national entrepreneurial capitalist model necessitated state management of the economy, society and culture in order to consolidate the emergence of a transnational monopoly capitalist mode of economic growth. These bureaucratic interventions, however, from the 1930s through the 1970s dangerously eroded the continuing reproduction of civil society. Hence, the new social movements of the 1960s and 1970s are discussed as popular efforts to countervail the bureaucratic logic of monopoly capital and the service state. The new social …

The Effects Of Meditation On Counselor Candidates' Self-Actualization, Clifton H. Burrows

Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to (1) determine the effectiveness of meditation in promoting healthy adjustment or self-actualization in counselor candidates; and (2) ascertain whether a meditation group generates a more positive change in self-actualization than do a treatment control and a control group.

The sample consisted of 39 volunteer graduate students in counselor education courses at two major universities. Three intact classes were used, with members of each group made up from the same class. Classroom groups were randomly assigned to two treatment conditions, meditation (M) and relaxation (TC), and to a third no-treatment condition (C).

Treatment was …

Public Universities And Societal Development – Application Of The Ideal Type Methodology In The Case Studies Of Addis Ababa University And Michigan State University, Solomon Wako

Dissertations

The role of higher education in societal development has been addressed by a number of scholars in various fields including sociology. Though these scholars virtually agree on the importance of university education, they have not identified the type of the university that facilitates the kind of societal development they advocate. Therefore, this study is concerned with the construction of a theoretical model of the ideal type university that will facilitate the conceptualization of societal development for Ethiopia and the USA. The study employs Weber's ideal type methodology which simply refers to the construction of certain elements of reality into logically …

The Oral Self-Administration Of Nicotine In Two Groups Of Rats, Jay D. Hansor

Masters Theses

Six, adult male, Spraque-Dawley rats served as subjects in this experiment which examined whether they would self-administer a 32 microgram per milliliter or a 64- microgram per milliliter (32 ug/ml and 64 ug/ml) nicotine tartrate solution when presented concurrently with distilled water. Subjects in Group I had access to a 32 ug/ml nicotine solution and Group II subjects had access to a 64 ug/ml nicotine solution during both phases. During Phase II an "AB" reversal was implemented to ascertain whether the subjects had a side preference or if they preferred to injest nicotine. It was found that each subject in …

Two Faces Of Alienation: A Study Of The Iranian Students' Activism And Passivity In American Universities, Alireza Mohseni-Tabrizi

Dissertations

The relationship between Iranian students' alienation from the Iranian politics and society and their social and political activism is examined at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Western Michigan University. The major goals of the study are to determine if there is a significant difference in the alienation levels of students who are politically and socially active and those who are not prone to participate in social and political activities, and to compare and contrast activists and non-activists by testing several propositions about characteristics of alienated students. The analysis of the data shows strong support for all six …

The Training Of A Few Response Forms Under Multiple Controlling Variables, Mary-Ann Wiermanski

Masters Theses

This study investigated the acquisition of a few response forms under different controlling variables using both a topography based language (TB) (i.e., signing) and a stimulus selection based language (SSB) (i.e., touching symbols) with three language deficient developmentally disabled individuals. The subjects were taught to name, to ask for, and to touch keys that opened boxes that contained some form of reinforcement. Most of the keys' names were trained across more than one set of controlling variables per session. Before training began for a given key under a new condition, a transfer test was conducted, investigating the possibility of stimulus …

A Program To Teach Multiple Verbal Relations Involving A Small Number Of Response Forms, Kimberly Lou Richter

Masters Theses

As a consequence of reviewing the results of non-behavioral and behavioral approaches to language training for the language deficient, further development of an alternative approach seemed warranted. This study attempted to develop a procedure for training a functional verbal repertoire involving a new language system which consisted of originally meaningless words and symbols. Young "normal" children participated as a first step in developing this procedure. Two preschoolers were taught a few verbal responses, each controlled by several different variables. A new verbal response was then taught under the control of a few variables. Transfer of the new verbal responses under …

Interview Training For College Students: A Behavioral Approach Versus A Self-Help Approach, Toni Yvette Woolfork

Masters Theses

This study was designed to train college students to interview effectively for a job. Ten upper-level students were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. The experimental group participated in a 16-hour training program consisting of modeling coaching, behavior rehearsal, peer and trainer feedback and instructional training. The techniques were used to train students to interview effectively, using the appropriate verbal behavior and nonverbal behavior. The control group's training consisted of a videotape and reading materials. There were significant differences between groups on the verbal behavior, but not on the nonverbal behaviors.

Feature-Value Effect, Nedra N. Zerbel

Masters Theses

Feature-value effect concerns the asymmetry obtained in the discrimination learning of pigeons and young children, based on the presence (feature-positive) versus the absence (feature-negative) of a single distinctive feature. Subjects master the discrimination problem when the distinctive feature appears on the positively-reinforced (S+) display but not necessarily when the distinctive feature appears on the non-reinforced (S-) display. This thesis replicates and examines the first (three) extensions of traditionally experimental research to human preschool populations. Six 3-5 year old children attending the Child Development Center preschool served as subjects in the experiment. The feature-positive discrimination training conditions consisted of the presentation …

A Comparison Of Two Methods Of Presenting Nutrition Education To Senior Citizens Participating In A Congregate Meal Program, Janice M. Williams

Masters Theses

Senior citizens participating in a congregate meal program received nutrition education lessons in two different ways. One group received nutrition lectures, a second group recieved nutrition lectures accompanied by printed material. A third group served as a control. Each group contained an urban and rural site. The nutrition lectures and printed material centered on the Basic Four food groups. The lessons were presented to the subjects once a week in four successive weeks. The length of the nutrition lecture for each food group was twenty minutes. The senior citizen took pre and posttests to measure an increase or decrease in …

The Effects Of Quantitative Information Content On Selection Strategies In A Complex Concept Formation Design, Tony B. Croke

Masters Theses

Thirty adult undergraduates and graduate students were placed in one of three quantitative information content groups. The Ss received either High, Medium or Low Information Content (IC) in a concept formation paradigm designed to study the types of problem solving strategies used by Ss under varying amounts of information content. High IC Ss produced the optimal strategy— focusing— sooner and more often than Medium or Low IC Ss. Medium IC Ss did better than low IC Ss. High IC Ss increased their use of focusing over trials, while Medium and Low IC Ss only used focusing intermittently. Medium and Low …

Social Skills In Vivo: An Experimental And Theoretical Analysis, Stephen Earl Eversole

Masters Theses

A multiple baseline across behaviors was employed to demonstrate generalization effects across settings. A 14 year old shy female was presented with social skills treatment package to increase the rate of eye contacts, verbalizations and smile sin vivo. One of the intervention phases included role-playing of social situations with a peer. A second phase required the occurrence of desired responding while playing foosball-- the same activity which took place in vivo during generality data collection. A third intervention required interaction assignments to be completed in vivo. Results indicate inconclusive evidence of an increase due to the treatment package. A general …

Archaeological Perspectives Of The Lumber Industry In Northern Lower Michigan, 1865-1920, Rebecca Ellen Dinsmore

Masters Theses

In an attempt to generate predictive statements about site structure and location, the nature of lumber industry development is examined through historical and environmental relationships between logging sites, early logging methods, transportation technology, and the presettlement forest as reconstructed from the original General Land Office surveyor field notes and plats. Eighteen historic logging sites recorded on the Huron National Forest and within the Au Sable River watershed comprise the data set. The purpose of this study is two-fold: (a) to reconstruct the lumber industry history along the Au Sable River, and (b) to develop a means of locating, identifying, and …

The Patterns Of Cultural Behavior Which Promote And Disrupt The Transmission Of Malaria In Haiti, Janet Jenks Sloan

Masters Theses

Malaria is in epidemic resurgence in the Limbe region of Haiti as a consequence of the termination of internationally-sponsored eradication programs. The presence of endemic disease cannot be considered an exclusively biophysical phenomenon; it is also an aspect of human adaptation within a particular environment. The biocultural ecology of Haiti the biocultural context must be understood and the complexity of the interaction of these factors appreciated. Any ameliorative intervention program must be based on a multiple strategy approach that is compatible with the realities of the cultural context of the human ecology of Haiti.

The Psychological Aspects Of Loneliness Experienced By College Students, Jerie Kull Wood

Dissertations

Loneliness is a common problem that occurs at various life stages, but is most intense for college students. To clarify and operationalize the concepts of loneliness, several current sociological and psychological approaches to loneliness were critically examined.

The major purposes of this study were to identify the lonely among the student population, the types of loneliness they experience, the behavioral manifestations of that loneliness, and the effectiveness of an intervention method. The Belcher Extended Loneliness Scale as administered to 126 students in a pretest and 203 students in a posttest. The students also answered questions about grade point average and …

College Impact On Religiosity Of Muslim Students Studying In The United States, Hamid Pouryoussefi

Dissertations

The major purpose of this study was to examine the religiosity of Muslim students studying in the United States. Religiosity was viewed as a four-dimensional variable: belief dimension, ritual dimension, experiential dimension, and consequential dimension. In addition, a combined index of religiosity was created.

The five hypotheses tested were: (1) The higher the academic status of the student, the lower the religiosity of the student. (2) There is an association between the religiosity of students and their major fields of study. (3) The more courses taken in social sciences by the student, the lower the religiosity of the student. (4) …

Effects Of Anticonvulsant Drugs On Learning And Memory, Mitchell Jon Picker

Dissertations

The effects of phenobarbital, clonazepam, valproic acid, phenytoin, and ethosuximide were examined in pigeons performing under repeated acquisition of response chains and delayed matching-to-sample procedures. In experiment I, clonazepam, valproic acid, ethosuximide, and phenytoin produced generally dose-dependent increases in rate of responding, while phenobarbital had little consistent effect on response rate across the dose range studied. Phenobarbital and clonazepam produced dose-dependent increases in error rates (i.e., learning impairment). Although valproic acid and phenytoin generally increased error rates relative to control values, this effect was not directly dose-dependent or consistent across subjects. In contrast to the other anticonvulsants examined, ethosuximide had …

Improving The Mental Health Care Delivery System For Elderly Nursing Home Patients, Richard J. Caston, Sharon Kohls, Susanna Bozinovski

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

It is well known that the mental health care delivery system for aged nursing home patients is inadequate. Based on information gained from face to face interviews and from a mail survey of nursing home personnel, the range and usefulness of the resources and services available for mental health care in nursing homes are identified. This information is then used to derive recommendations for the development of a more effective mental health care delivery package for nursing homes.

Empowerment Through The Needs Assessment Process, Michael Hibbard

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

One of the most persistent issues in social welfare planning has been the relative roles of service provision and social change. They have often been conceived as dichotomous: the assumption is that one precludes the other, on both ideological and methodological grounds. However, this division may be more the product of turf wars and fuzzy thinking than any necessary dichotomy. In this article a rationale for viewing service delivery and social change as dimensions of a single process --empowerment -- is developed. Next the needs assessment is examined as a vehicle for implementing the process of empowerment. Finally, a case …

Long Term Care Advocacy Delivery Systems: State And Local Responsibilities, Abraham Monk, Lenard W. Kaye, Howard Litwin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper reports the results of a national comparative study of nursing home ombudsman programs for the institutionalized elderly. Of recent origin, patient representative programs have received little critical assessment as to their success in improving the quality of life of America's most vulnerable aged. At the same time, anticipated increases in the number of institutionalized aged coupled with current austerity measures in the health and human services underscores the present and future need to design effective and efficient monitoring/advocacy mechanisms to prevent abuses in long stay institutions. The paper focuses on a description of the current configuration of state …

Social Work Intervention With The Aged: Toward A Change In The Institutionalized Thought Structure, Shimon S. Gottschalk, Michael Frumkin, Allan V. Kaufman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The social problems associated with aging are viewed as derived from a series of socially defined meanings in the areas of: (1) power/authority,(2) responsibility, (3) productivity/work, (4) dependence/ independence,and (5) knowledge/rationality. A parallel series of alternative meanings is proposed which make possible the creation of alternative institutional forms which hold promise for making contemporary problems substantially obsolete. An era of post-professinalism is envisioned in which helping agents become political activists committed to social change on the cognitive, as well as the material level.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 11, No. 1 (March 1984)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• The Concept of Employment in Social Welfare Programs: The Need For Change in Concept and Practice - D. MACAROV - pp. 1
• Social Work Intervention With the Aged Toward a Change in the Institutionalized Thought Structure - SHIMON S. GOTTSCHALK, MICHAEL FRUMKIN, ALLAN V. KAUFMAN - pp. 24
• Long Term Care Advocacy Delivery Systems: State and Local Responsibilities - ABRAHAM MONK, LENARD W. KAYE, HOWARD LITWIN - pp. 56
• Improving The Mental Health Care Delivery System For Elderly Nursing Home Patients - RICHARD J. CASTON, SHARON KOHLS, SUSANNA BOZINOVSKI - pp. 71
• Empowerment Through The Needs Assessment …

Afdc, Food Stamp, And Medicaid Utilization: A Research Note, Mark R. Rank, Paul R. Voss

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

During the past 20 years, social welfare programs have been expanding both in terms of federal and state expenditures, and in terms of numbers of recipients. Among the programs involved in this expansion were Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Food Stamps, and Medicaid. However, knowledge of the sheer numbers of people and dollars involved provides at best an incomplete picture of these social welfare programs. The researcher, policy planner, and government administrator must also have an understanding of who is at risk of utilizing welfare in the general population. Such knowledge may provide insight into the present and future …

The Concept Of Employment In Social Welfare Programs: The Need For Change In Concept And Practice, D. Macarov

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social welfare and social work practice are based upon and limited by concepts concerning the role of work in society. These include coverage, vestedness, administration, and the wage-stop. As human labor becomes quantitatively less important in the technological society, and as attitudes toward work change, the role of social work should become proactive -- leading toward necessary and desirable changes, including new meanings of the concept work and new methods of distributing income, rather than continuing to attempt to shore up an increasingly outmoded systems of values and structures.

In examining the content of the major social work textbooks published …

Empathy/Role Taking: A Theoretical Model For Feminist Therapy, Michele Wilson, Gayle Twilbeck Wykle

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Feminist therapy is directed not only at individual, but also at social change. Because of this dual aim of feminist therapy, the symbolic interactionist perspective, which describes individual initiative as a source of social change, is suggested as a theoretical orientation which can provide a useful model for feminist therapy. More specifically, the empathy/role-taking model for the clienttherapist relationship is outlined here.

Economic And Human Capital Factors In The Future Work Plans Of Young Widows, Martha N. Ozawa, Susan Whitelaw Downs

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study examines the future work plans of nonremarried widows under age 55 who have dependent children at home (N=2,599). All families in this study were receiving survivor benefits from social security in 1978. Human capital resources of the widow, economic need, her age, and family situational variables were included in multiple regression analyses as possible predictors of future work plans. The results support the importance of human capital resources and age of the widow, support the importance of economic need only for widows already working, and suggest that family situational variables are less significant in predicting widows' future work …

A Systems Paradigm For Community Development, Salvatore Imbrogno

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The study of and practice in communities requires a theoretic construct of an overarching conceptualization that can "sweep-in" existing paradigms; variant epistemological foundations and methodological directives for complex community development. The purpose of this paper is to identify and define the existing epistemological and methodological approaches to communities with the objective of coalescing them into a unified system of inquiry. The intent is to first raise the level of abstraction in and about a community that goes beyond the confines of any (or combined) paradigm. In so doing, one can converge a polarity of opposing positions to the study and …

Child Abuse And Mental Health: An Examination Of Some Long Term Effects For Prison Inmates, Michael J. Belyea, Matthew T. Zingraff

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study examines the effects of childhood abuse on future adult mental health. A statistically significant relationship was found between abuse and mental health problems. This relationship remained even after controlling for parental characteristics and the effects of an abusive environment. These findings suggest that one way to deal with the consequences of abuse would be to develop long term intervention strategies.

A Comparison Of Child Welfare Curriculum In Undergraduate And Graduate Programs Of Social Work, John T. Pardeck

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper analyzes the differences in child welfare curriculum content of social work programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The findings report little discernible difference in curriculum content in the area of child welfare at either level. These results add to the continuing debate focusing on defining the differences between undergraduate and graduate social work education. A important question resulting from this study is -- what can the consumer of child welfare services or hiring agency expect from the social worker trained in the area of child welfare at either the undergraduate or graduate levels? The answer to …

Book Reviews, Michael Reisch, Ann Withorn, Michael Hibbard

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

• The Cost of Human Neglect: America's Welfare Failure - HARREL R. RODGERS JR. - Reviewed by MICHAEL REISCH - pp. 239
• Women in the Workplace: Proposals for Research and Policy Concerning the Conditions of Women in Industrial and Service Jobs - PAMELA ROBY - Reviewed by ANN WITHORN pp. 243
• Social Welfare or Social Control? Some Historical Reflections on Regulating the Poor - WALTER I. TRATTNER - Values in Social Policy: Nine Contradictions - JEAN HARDY - An Immodest Agenda: Rebuilding America Before the 21st Century - AMITAI ETZIONI - Reviewed by MICHAEL HIBBARD - pp. 245